Katrina Adastra Meet Mister Black
by MentalAndLovingIt
Summary: A horde of crazy southerners arrives in La Push and turn the pack inside out.    OCxJacob  OCxSeth  As a heads up, i don't own any of the songs, anything from twilight, or the FAL rifle.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi. My name's Katarina Adastra and I just moved to La Push from Mobile, Alabama. My parents are divorced, my sister lives with my ex-stepmom and now I live with my dad. Most people call me either call me 'Kat' or 'Star' because my last name means 'to the stars' slurred together in Latin._

That was what I had planned to say just in case any of my teachers asked me to introduce myself. My plan was to just be myself at this new school, but of course—not all of myself. You see, I'm…different. There are werewolves, shape-shifters, and vampires in this world, along with mages. I happen to be a shape-shifting mage. I have reached mastery of my powers, and a Masters' level of magic promises me a career in the magic world if I so wish it.

My inner beast happens to be a jaguar. In the magical world, they call someone like me—first of all—a bastard, and second a daemon oran 'Advocatus diaboli' – Latin for 'the devil's advocate'. It's a fancy way of letting everybody know that I'm the bastard of an unknown shape-shifter and a mage. I'm a Jaguar-Daemon, so in my daemon form I have cat ears, eyes, and tail and I can morph my nails into claws if I want to.

Usually I stay that way because it's comfortable and natural. Appearing as a human biped is annoying, and I destroy stuff when I am angered, so I generally avoid getting annoyed. Anyway, I just moved to La Push, and—my father being the excellent strategist he is—school starts tomorrow. Daddy knows I'm less likely to run off if I'm known at school, because I don't want to draw that kind of attention to myself…or at least not that much. I can't help my troublemaking nature, but whatever. Why does my daddy have to know me so well?

I hated the fact that I would have to use a human form most of my time here. Maybe sometimes I'll use a hoodie to hide my ears and pants to hide my tail in public, along with some sunglasses…although that will look mildly ridiculous, and I'll just pay attention out in the woods.

I sighed as I unpacked the last box. Having an inner beast and magic is like having an entire army at my command. I unpacked about fifty boxes in an hour with my super-strength/speed and magic, but all the same, I was tired from the three flights and car ride from Port Angeles to La Push. I looked at my newly-made bed, and collapsed onto it, fully clothed, and was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.

YYYYY

The next morning, I was awakened by my alarm clock blaring 'Last Resort' by Papa Roach. I slammed my hand down so hard that I broke the clock. _Great. Now I have to waste time and magic to fix that. _I thought, even though it would only take me about a minute and about a grain of sand's worth of my magic.

As you probably inferred; I am most definitely _not _a morning person. For a few minutes I simply lay there on my bed, limbs feeling like they had melted into the coverlet, but eventually my dad pounded on my door and said, "Katarina, if you don't get your butt out of that bed, I _will._" I groaned.

"I'm up, I'm up!" I shouted, my voice still rough from sleep. My father boomed a laugh in return. I listened to his footsteps retreat down the hall, and when I was sure he was gone I got off the bed, realizing that I was still in my clothes from yesterday and I hadn't even bothered with the covers. I sighed; the clothes smelled like old people from the plane.

I threw a hex at my closet and it blew the doors open, nearly blasting them off their hinges. Beginning on a few Tai Chi exercises, I looked through my clothes, finally deciding on a pair of jeans ripped at one knee and a black t-shirt. On the back, the shirt said,

"As I walk through the valley in the shadow of death I fear no evil…"

(For I am the baddest mother F&#$!* in the land.)

I always wear that shirt on my first day anywhere. It's like a, a, _ritual _or something. I slipped on some white ankle socks and my black-and-silver boys' running shoes and walked out of my room, finishing up the last slow-motion-punch/kick exercise. I stomped into the kitchen and stalked over to the fridge. I nabbed a slab of celebration-cake and scarfed it down, not even bothering with sitting down…or a plate.

Daddy just shook his head and rolled his eyes. I looked at him closely. His short brown hair and lightly tanned face matched his wide smile. He was tall, about 6'4 or so, and he had a farmer's tan from working outside so much. I look a lot like my dad did when he was younger, back when he had long blonde hair that he wore in a pony-tail and really _pale _skin.

Daddy owned a gun business that I helped with, and his partner and his wife and son had moved up here with us, which was why we had bought a mansion to share. Little Tommy and I shared the third floor, while all the adults got the second. The first floor had a kitchen, dining room, mudroom, parlour, and even a powder room.

When Tommy and I were exploring, we found the powder room, and it had a statue of the previous owner's head on the counter, wearing a crown encrusted with diamonds. We just looked at each other, and then simultaneously burst into laughter that had us collapsing on the couch.

The second floor was all bedrooms and had two bathrooms. Our floor had four bedrooms, a master bath that our two rooms shared, another master bath that the other rooms shared, a common room (we had renovated it into a game room last night) and a small kitchenette that had a mini-bar and ice-cream counter with condiments, a fridge, ice-cream and EVERYTHING. It was _awesome! _

Tommy happens to be three years older than me, but we're still best friends. My other best friend was moving up tomorrow, and I had taken her bags and boxes with me and had arranged her room as well last night.

All that magic was a slightly tiring, and the flight had pooped me out, so that's why I collapsed. I ran up two flights of stairs and into the hallway outside of my bedroom. Little Tommy hollered, "Do you have to be so _loud? _Some of us are in _college_ and don't have to get up until _noon_!" He poked his head out of his door, his dyed-black hair all mussed up, eyes bleary and narrowed.

I cocked my head to the side as if I was thinking about something. Then I straightened and said, "Nope, I'm pretty sure that's just you!" I laughed and slammed the door to my room. I heard him growl (he's a mountain lion shifter, so he can only growl in human form. They can do just about anything but growl. They scream to strike fear into their prey, and I personally think it works even better than a growl because the scream is piercing and _creepy_!), then the bedsprings creaked as he flopped back down on his bead with a theatrical groan.

I snatched my makeup and walked into our joint bathroom. It took me twenty minutes to put on a hint of silver eyeliner, a slight dusting of black eye-shadow, wet-and-blow-dry my hair, and put on the chap-stick that served as lip-gloss for me. That just shows you how much of a girl I am: usually I don't even bother with the makeup, skipping straight to the hair and chap-stick.

When I finished I wrote on the mirror in the lipstick I had brought in there:

_**Don't kill me just yet!**_

_**Your annoying house-mate, Kat**_

I'm an impulsive person, and I do stuff like that all the time. It cracks our quartet up. I looked at the sun that was peeking in the bathroom window and swore: I had ten minutes to get to school, and I lived seven minutes away.

Grinning, I thought _It's a good thing I drive like the cat out of hell that I am! _ I raced out of the manse and called, "Gotta go, I'm late!" My dad just laughed, and Little Tommy yelled, "SHUT UP!" Tossing a throw-pillow out his window that almost hit me. (Ha-ha, THROW pillow!)

"YOU'RE PICKING THAT UP, YOU KNOW!" I shouted back at him.

I slipped the keys to my black Mercedes Maybach 62S out of my pocket and unlocked the car. I jumped into the car, the black book-bag that I had grabbed somewhere on my flight out of the house tossed into the back seat. I revved the engine, savoring the mechanical purr of the engine for a moment before slamming on the gas and racing out of the front gates.

I was about a mile away from the house when I saw a kid walking on the side of the road lugging a _huge _book-bag. From the back, he looked to be about my age. I roared up beside him and slammed to a stop, scaring the crap out of him. "Hey, do you need a ride to the school?" I asked him.

He looked at me like I was insane, and asked, "Who are you?" I rolled my eyes.

"Going to be late for first period if you don't tell me if you want the ride or not." He smiled and opened the passenger door. He whistled at the interior of my ride.

"Man, my friend Jake would give an arm and a leg to see this!" I shrugged.

"If he wants, he can see it, and keep all his appendages. I already have the body of someone named Jake." He laughed, but then his laughter was abruptly cut off as I slammed on the gas pedal and we shot off at about 140 miles an hour.

"Dang, you drive like Edward Cullen." My riding companion said.

"I have no clue who that is, but thank you." I bowed slightly. He laughed.

"Sorry. I have no manners. I'm Seth Clearwater." I shook his hand while still speeding down the road.

"I've been told the same. My name is Katarina Adastra, but most people just call me Kat or Star." Seth was about to ask, so I said, "If we have any of the same classes, you'll hear my speech." He smiled.

"How come you were driving so fast when you picked me up?"

"Uh, I live about ten minutes away from the school, and I always drive like this." Seth snorted.

"How late did you get up?" He asked. I grimaced.

"Umm…thirty minutes before I had to run out the door?" I raised the pitch on the last word, pulling a 'valley-girl' and making my sentence a question. He looked at me like I had just grown two heads.

"My older sister Leah wakes up an hour before we have to leave." He paused. "At the latest." I whistled.

"Well, I'm not exactly a morning person, but once I'm up, I'm up." Seth nodded contemplatively.

"You sound a lot like my sister."

I beamed. "I hope that was a complement." He assured me it was, and we continued the last minute of the drive in silence. He didn't realize it, but I was studying him the whole while.

He had pale skin—for a Quileute—and curly brown hair. He was MASSIVELY tall, and he had some _serious _muscles. From the looks of him—and the body heat he was radiating—he was one of the werewolves that protected the town. I almost said as much, but I decided to keep it to myself: I loved making a production out of things, and this wasn't the right time to say something like that.

(What I didn't realize was that _he _was studying _me_. He saw a tall, slim girl whose slender build was obviously caused by exercise because she was obviously not anorexic. She had long, flowing blonde hair whose shade he would have described as honey-streaked-with-sunlight if he had to. He face was a perfect oval, except for a stubborn chin. High cheekbones rested proudly under exotic eyes with a color that rested somewhere between gray and green.)

When we squealed into the parking lot and I spun expertly into a parking space, heads turned. Most of them were guys, but most of the girls who looked seemed to think I was just doing it to get attention. I popped out of the car and grabbed my bag from the back seat. I felt all eyes on me, but I ignored it. I saw that Seth hadn't gotten out yet, so I wrenched open his door.

He was frozen in his seat, most likely from shock. I laughed. "Come on, man up Sethy!" I pulled him out of the car and handed him his pack. Locking the door and turning towards the front office, I said, "Go tell your friend he can talk to me about the car anytime." He smiled and ran over to a bunch of guys who were staring at my car and whom all looked like Seth.

I figured that they must be the local wolf-pack, and I shrugged. I had just turned around to walk into the office, when I heard Seth yell, _"I TAKE THAT BACK! YOU DRIVE WORSE THAN HE DOES! I'M SCARRED FOR LIFE!" _I laughed and tuned back around.

"You're welcome!" I swept into a medieval-style bow and walked into the office. Everyone in the parking-lot started laughing. The receptionist looked up.

"Hello. I'm Katarina Adastra. Can I please get my timetable and the slip?" She looked at me appraisingly.

"You're a Southerner, aren't you?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yep!" She smiled at me, and handed me what I wanted.

"Have a good day, Mizz. Belle!" I said as I left the office. I took a minute to look at my schedule.

**Per. 1: Art with Mr. Chatanova 256**

**Per. 2: Language Arts & Reading with Mrs. Winter 207**

**(LOCKERS)**

**Per. 3: Biology with Miss Hartley-Griffith 113**

**(LOCKERS)**

**Per. 4: Advanced Algebra with Mr. Holly 532**

**Lunch**

**Per. 5: Latin with Mrs. Leandra 785**

**(LOCKERS)**

**Per. 6: Computer Sciences with Mrs. Lilly 315**

**Per. 7: Study Hall in Library**

I giggled: I was fluent in Latin because I'm a Mage, and when I had to choose which language to do my magicks in, I chose Latin. That caused me to be fluent, and I had the distinct feeling I was about to be teacher's pet in that class. (That saves me some detention time!)

I almost jumped out of my skin when someone tapped me on the shoulder. "Seth! Oh my God you almost KILLED me!" He laughed and snagged my schedule and looked it over.

"We have all of the same classes except for my first and sixth classes are switched, and I have Spanish fourth." I grinned.

"Good. At least I'll know someone in most of my classes. Hey, Seth?"

"Hmm?"

"How come there's no P.E. course?"

He looked down at the schedule again. "Huh, you get to skip! You're so lucky! You got art instead of P.E.!" I bowed again.

"I'm just talented that way." I said. "But seriously, it's probably because my school decided to make us do some kind of community service a few years ago. Since I did extra hours and even founded a new organization, the School Board let me keep the hours and put them for credit in any class I wanted. I picked P.E. 'cause I _hate _the sports they do at schools."

His eyebrows rose, and he asked, "Then how are you so skinny?"

I flapped a hand at him. "I swim, and I ride horses. I even brought my horse up here. He's an Arabian-Thoroughbred mix and he's basically a huge, insanely fast, black stallion. His name isAeternum-vale, which is Latin for 'farewell forever.'" Seth looked reasonably impressed.

"Well, I've gotta get to Art, but first—did you tell your friend what I said?" I asked him.

"Yeah. He's ecstatic. I thought I saw stars in his eyes." We both had to laugh at that. "I think you two have first period together, so you can talk then. By Kat!"

"Later Sethy." I called to his retreating back as I walked to room 256 for art.


	2. Chapter 2

When I walked into the room, I was one of the last ones in. I walked up to the teacher's desk and handed him the slip. He signed it, then said, "You don't have to introduce yourself, but you may if you'd like." I shrugged.

"I'd rather do it now than have fifty-billion people walk up to me during the day and ask who in the heck I am." Mr. Chatanova laughed slightly, and stood to face his class.

"Class, this is our newest student, and she's decided that she will introduce herself to us rather than have us all ask her all day long." The class smiled and a few people even chuckled, and then I was in the spotlight.

I cleared my throat as my chest constricted pleasantly. It always did that when I spoke to strangers in a large crowd, but it was as if an old friend was squeezing me, and I smiled. "Hi. My name's Katarina Adastra and I just moved to La Push from Mobile, Alabama. My parents are divorced, my sister lives with my ex-stepmom, and now I live with my dad. Most people call me either call me 'Kat' or 'Star' because my last name means 'to the stars' slurred together in Latin." I smiled again. When everyone just stared, I said, "I'm done now."

Everyone in the room, including myself, laughed. I turned to Mr. Chatanova. He pointed to an empty seat near the back of the room. "Kat, why don't you sit next to Jacob Black?" I replied with a smiling 'sure' and walked to my new seat.

Some girl stuck her leg out right in my way. I sighed, knowing what was coming next. I stepped over the foot anyway, and the whole class winced when her leg shot up to where I was…or should have been. I shot three feet in the air above her kick. As she gaped, I came down and slammed her upside the back of the head with a textbook I snatched off the nearest kid's desk, still in the air.

It made a resounding _thwack _and all the class could do was stare. I landed silently and leaned down so I was on eye-level with the girl whom was currently holding a pink-nailed-hand to the back of her head. I looked her straight in the eyes and intoned cruelly, "Last time I checked, I'm not a boy."

The whole class did a whisper version of the 'ooOOOOH!' I smiled a self-satisfactory smirk, gave the kid back his book, and sat down. Jacob whispered, "You _do _realize that you just murdered your chances of ever being popular around here?" I snorted.

"Yeah…and I'm supposed to care? Anyway, that just scored me some major points with the outcasts and bullied kids." I grinned evilly. "I've got the feeling I'm going to be _pretty_ popular with that bunch before the school-week's out."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jacob's jaw drop. "Did you do this at your other schools?"

"Oh, no!" I finally turned to face him. "I broke the last girl's nose." Suddenly I peered at him. "Are you the 'Jake' I told Seth he could keep his appendages even if he wanted to see my car?"

His expression was one of wonderment and joy, and he appeared to be looking over my shoulder. I knew that expression: he just Imprinted. I almost sighed in disappointment, but I was too shocked at my initial reaction to do so.

He laughed a low, rough-but-somehow-velvety laugh that made me smile in return. "Yes, I am. Do you know much about cars?" He asked me.

"Not much. I _do _know how to totally screw a dealership, and I helped my dad rebuild an old-fashioned Mustang when I was about eight." I smiled at the memory. "I was sitting in the car—taking a break—when Dad told me _not _to touch these two wires poking out of the steering wheel together." I grinned. "Of course, I touched them together as soon as Daddy was back under the hood, and the horn went berserk." We both laughed. "I almost got kicked out of the shop for that one, but I begged and he let me stay."

Jake snickered. "Nice." I rolled my eyes, and then turned to face the front of the room because the teacher was beginning on his lecture.

"…Now, I want all of you to take a piece of paper and sketch something vitally important to you." He looked shrewdly at all of us. "And that means _all _of you." I just 'hmmmed' as I pulled out my sketchpad.

I thought about it for a moment, and then smiled. I took out my artists' pencils and started sketching furiously. Jake looked at me like I was crazy, but he started sketching as well. It took me about thirty minutes of the class to finish. I set my last shading pencil down with a sigh, flexing cramping fingers.

Jacob asked, "What did you draw? If I'm not being rude…"

I looked up at him, startled. "No! You're not being rude in the least. Here, wanna look?" I shoved my pad over across the desk at him.

He studied it carefully. "Is that a wolf? It's _really_ realistic." He looked slightly worried, as would I have been if I were a werewolf and a wolf-crazy girl came into my territory and started mucking around in my woods…so that meant I had to scare him by taking the wolf-thing as far as it really was, not what I usually said.

"Yep. I'm totally obsessed; have been since I was about ten." I smiled. "They're so intriguing, somehow being majestic, powerful, and playful at the same time." I made sure my eyes shined at the thought. "I was actually good friends with the local wolves back in Mobile." Jake looked at me like I was insane, so I continued, "Well, of course they tried to kill me the first time, but I camped out with them for a few weeks and became an honorary member of the pack! They were so humane I thought they might start talking any minute there." I smiled at the memory.

"Are you _insane_?"

"Probably."


	3. Chapter 3

Next period, I went through the same routine, but this time I sat behind Seth. "So, Star, why did you move to La Push all the way from _Alabama_?"

"Well, my dad, his business partner, and his family all moved up here because they're trying to outlaw guns down there." I made a disgusted face. "_**Disarm Mobile**_ is their dumbass slogan." He was still confused, so I explained, "My dad owns a gun business. Uncle Tommy is his business partner, his son and I help, and we all moved up here because of the stupid movement."

"What was the name of the business?"

"It _was _something-or-other that I don't really remember, cuz it was kinda boring, but we changed it when we transfered up here. Now it's FALP, Felidae Arms of La Push." I rolled my eyes. "They told me to pick a name, so I just blurted that, because a certain rifle that is used internationally is called FAL."

"What does Felidae mean?" He asked me.

"Look it up." We both started laughing.

"Mister Clearwater, Miss Adastra, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" I looked her straight in the eyes.

"Not at the moment, but thank you for asking!" The rest of the class snickered, and the teacher sniffed haughtily.

Later, in the hallway when I was at my locker, some random guy comes up to me and pokes me between the shoulder blades. "And the point of that _wassss…_?" He smirked.

"You should be _grateful _that I'm talking to you." He said.

I looked him straight in the eyes. "And youshould be _grateful_ that I haven't broken your nose yet. Now bye-bye!" I shooed him away, much to his fury.

"You're going to regret that!" He called from halfway down the hall. I tapped my chin with a finger, then said, "No, I don't think I will."

As soon as I slammed my locker shut (I picked the lock because they had neglected to give me the combination) another guy walked up to me and said, "That was total social suicide."

"You're the second person to tell me that today. The first time was in first period where I slammed one of the cheerleaders in the back of the head with a textbook." The boy gaped.

"So _you're _that new girl that gave Seth a ride."

I grinned. "Yup! Are you one of his friends?" He nodded.

"The name's Embry Call." I shook his hand.

"Katarina Adastra, but people just call me either Star or Kat." I hmmed again. "You know what? I'm gonna bet'cha ten bucks I end up insulting at least three more people by lunch, and they'll all love me before then as well."

He snorted. "I'll take you up on that. I bet you can't: lunch is right after next period." I laughed. "What class are you in next?" He asked.

"I've got Advanced Algebra with Mr. Holly."

"That means you've got Quil in your class. I'll have him watch out for you…and to make sure you stick to the bet!" We smiled evilly at each other, then walked away, me to my classroom, him to find his friend. _Looks like I'm becoming quite friendly with the wolf pack _here _as well! _I thought. I hadn't mentioned to Jake that the wolves I had spoken of were werewolves too.

As soon as class started, I picked out Quil from his looks. I smirked at him, since I couldn't talk because he was across the room from me. He mouthed, _"Are you Star?" _He had to ask because he missed my speech because he was the last one into the room. I nodded and mouthed back, _"Prepare to be amazed!" _

He snickered, and mouthed, _"We'll see about that!" _Before the teacher even started the lecture, I raised my hand.

"Yes, Miss Adastra?" I walked up to the board and pointed to the tail end of the equation.

"That seven should be an eight, if you want the equation's answer to be x=351 like you've written it." I had been told by the friendly girl sitting next to me that Mr. Holly was _very _prickly about his math, and if you corrected him you were sure to piss him off…so I had to go and do it.

Mr. Holly's face turned bright red and he started spluttering. I flounced back to my seat. I mouthed to Quil, _"One half down, two and a half to go!" _

By the end of the class period, I had humiliated Mr. Holly, thoroughly insulted the quarterback of the football team, and told a cheerleader that her afro-hairdo looked like a 'hair-don't created by a rat sleeping up there.' I smirked at Quil. _"Impressed yet?" _He was dumbstruck, and was about to say something else when I held up a finger in a 'wait' gesture. _"I still have to do the last half of the bet!" _He shook his head as if to say 'they hate you. No way they'll love you before lunch starts.'

I looked at Mr. Holly and said, "Mr. Holly, you used to teach Spanish at Phillips Preparatory School a few years ago. When'd ya come up here?" His eyes bugged out of his head.

"H-how do you know about that?" I laughed.

"Remember back a couple years ago when I started sixth grade and we figured out that you had gone to high school with my dad at Baker?" He peered at me, and then said, "Yes, I do remember that now. You were in the band as a trombone player, and you were quite good at it. You decided to take German instead of my Spanish class because you had been taking Spanish since you were about three, is that right?" I smiled.

"Yessiree!" I cleared my throat. _"Todavía hablo cierto español."_ I called. He smiled. We talked in Spanish for a little while, and then he started talking to the whole class about his old Spanish classes.

I turned to the cheerleader and said, "Look, your hair doesn't look like that at all; I bet ten bucks I could insult three people before lunch-period, and I said that in the hallway right before this class." She smiled.

"Oh, did you bet against Embry or Quil?" I laughed.

"Embry. He had Quil in here to watched me and make sure I didn't cheat." We chatted for a minute or two, then I tapped the quarterback on the shoulder.

He turned around, looking angry, but his face lit up with a grin when I said, "Hey, if you want I'll tutor you, that way you'll be ahead of the class. You really don't need it badly at all, I just had a bet running with Embry…and I didn't want to lose." He grinned.

"Yeah, losing to either one in that duo is humiliating because it happens so much. They always owe each other money from their hourly bets, but they usually balance out the debt before the day's over." I smirked at my two new friends.

"Well, now Embry owes me ten bucks." We all three laughed.

The cheerleader held out a dark brown hand and I shook it. "My name is Ebonee Stevens. Want to be friends?" I nodded.

"It's nice to meet you, Ebonee."

The quarterback said, "I'm Cody Tanner, and I'd also like to be friends." I smiled broadly and shook his hand as well.

"Well, now that no one is insulted anymore, I think I've wiped three names off my 'Enemy List', but since you all _were _insulted, and now aren't, I still win the bet." Our little trio snickered.

I turned to face Quil. _"How did you do that?" _He asked me silently.

I shrugged. _ "Talent." _

When the bell rang, Mr. Holly held me back for a moment. "Katarina, do you still play your instruments?"

I grinned. "Yes sir I do! And now I can play the piano, trombone, trumpet, electric base, and some percussion. I also still sing." I smiled at him.

"Well, there's a rumor going around that a couple people are looking to start up a band, so if you maybe put up a flyer or two or had the office do an announcement maybe you could start one up, or join." I hugged him briefly around the neck.

"Thank you Mr. Holly! Do you remember Rhiannon?" I asked. At his nod, I continued. "She's coming up later today, and maybe she'll want to join as well!" I thanked him again and walked out into the hallway.

Quil was waiting for me right outside the door. "You play all those instruments?"

"Yep! My primary instrument is my voice, but my secondary is the trombone." I smiled. "Come on, let's get to the lunchroom. I want my ten bucks!" He laughed, and we started walking. When we reached the cafeteria, I saw Embry sitting at a table with the rest of the wolf pack, and there were two seats left open.

I grinned at Quil, and waved at Embry. Quil said, "I'm going to go get some food. You coming?"

"Nope, I'm not hungry at the moment." He shrugged and walked into the tail end of the line. I strolled over to Embry's table.

He smiled at me when I stopped behind the people that were sitting across the table from him. "Guys, this is Katarina Adastra, but just call her either Kat or Star." Everyone turned to look at me, and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, Embry, where's my money?" The pack groaned.

One of them asked, "Dude, you've only just met her and you two are already _betting_?" We looked at each other and nodded like 'uhh, yeah.'

Jake snorted. "And she's already _winning_." The pack grinned at Embry, showing an excessive amount of teeth.

He said, "Well, I'll wait for Quil, but in the meantime I'll introduce everybody. Star, this is Jared, Paul, Collin, Brady, Seth, Jacob, and Leah. Of course you already know Jake and Seth, Quil and myself." I grinned.

"Well, howdy y'all." They looked at me like I was mentally impaired, but then I said, "Southerner." They all said, "OOoohhh."

I perked up. "Oh, look who's coming; Quil, and my cash!" The wolf-pack snickered. Embry glared and said, "Hey, Quil! Who owes who?"

"You owe her. She got to Mr. Holly, Cody Tanner, and Ebonee King, and they were all best friends by the end of the period." Embry's jaw dropped. "Guess what else?" They all asked 'what' so Quil continued, "Kat knows Mr. Holly from back in Alabama. He was a Spanish teacher at her middle school!" The whole pack was startled, then started laughing.

I sat down between the ones called Jared and Paul. I just watched them all scarf down food the whole meal. Abruptly I said, "I know Mrs. Winter too. She was my sixth grade reading and language-arts teacher."

"No kidding!" They all exclaimed.

"Not at all! She obviously didn't recognize me. She had her first baby right after school let out, and I'm guessing that Miss Hartley-Griffith is her sister, because that's Mrs. Winter's maiden name."

Paul looked impressed. "Wow. We've been trying to get this much dirt on the teachers for _years. _The Lord has finally answered our prayers!" I snickered.

"Yeah, well, that info's gonna cost you." The pack looked at me appreciatively

.

"How much?" Paul asked, and the bantering began.

"Three bucks a pop."

"Two."

"Two fifty."

"One fifty."

"Two."

"One seventy-five."

"Two."

"Deal!" He said, with a grin. Then he though back, and accused, "You never wanted three bucks, did you?"

I smirked back. "Nope. I was only aiming for a dollar, but there you have it!"

"Dang, you know how to play this game, don't you?" Jared said, as if astounded.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well, it's kinda hard to help run a business and not get good at bartering." Finally, Leah looked interested.

"What kind of business?" She asked.

I flapped a hand dismissively at her. "Guns." They all stared. "Hey! It's legal! We deal, paint, refinish, and do basically everything but reblueing." The pack smiled.

Jake smiled. "Hey, Seth, I think you found us a new best friend!" I inclined my head with a rakish grin.

"Probably." He smirked, then turned to face me. "So, Star, what'd you do to get in enough Community Service hours that you got to skip out on P.E. for the rest of your life, if it's okay to ask." I sighed as the pack stared; that's _a lot _of hours.

Paul snorted. "Yeah right. You probably just hacked a computer system and changed your schedule."

"That would have been pretty hard for me to do, considering the fact that I arrived in La Push at about six o'clock last night, and already had my room, my best two friends' rooms, an ice-cream bar, and a living-room-turned-gamers'-dream-hangout completely furnished by ten o'clock last night."

The pack gaped at me. "Yeah, I know. Anyways Seth, to answer your question, I worked full-time at a gun-range and even got on the Board of Directors, like my dad." They all looked at me like I was either insane or I had some serious issues. "Oh, don't look like that! I love firearms, and the range, along with the people there. The work wasn't that bad, just cleaning, signing memberships, giving tours and other little things like that, and I got to take breaks whenever I wanted and shoot because my supervisor was an elderly man named Mr. Don that I've known since the beginning of forever, and he loves me like another kid of his."

I winked at them. "And we both cracked enough blonde jokes to get us kicked out of the office for a while every day, so we just shot then." Jared, Jake, and Paul snickered while the others smiled.

"Plus, I started a new group called 'The Retired Angels' that go around singing and playing music for the elderly. They'll go to retirement communities, private homes, hospitals, funerals, weddings, baby showers, and anywhere else you can think of." I grinned. "They really _do _sound like angels, too." I didn't mention the fact that they were all half-mermaids, so of _course_ they sounded like angels.

Everyone was _still_ looking at me like I was mentally impaired, but they looked slightly mollified. "Anyways, everyone at the range is practically family, and since I've been shooting there since I was six, I'm pretty much accepted wherever guns are concerned." I snickered.

"You've been shooting since you were _six_?" Paul exclaimed, and I dissolved in giggles at the look on his face.

"Got a gun for my sixth birthday present from my dad." They just gaped as I laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

For the rest of the school day, I just lay low, but at least I had some new friends. The wolf-pack was an awesome bunch of kids. When I finally got out of study hall, I skipped going to my locker and headed straight out to my car, where Paul was standing. I walked up to him as silently as I could in biped-form, and scared the living s-bomb out of him. "What's up, Paul?"

"Holy crap where did you come from?" I snickered, "The _school…_" He growled at me. "Anyway, Paul, what'd ya want?"

He peered at me closely. "Just make sure you don't tick any of us off. It could be fatal." He didn't mention the fact that it was because they would explode into horse-sized furballs. I smiled.

"Sure thing, Paul! The same goes for you all. I lose it when I'm angry, and that leads to _major _retaliation." He subtly sniffed my scent, but he didn't detect any hint of wolf there. All he should have smelled was forest and a light lavender-musk scent that always hovered around my humanoid forms.

I smiled at him one last time, then hopped into my car. I was about to pull out when I heard Seth ask through the window, "Can a poor, unlicensed kid beg a ride from the demon-driver?" I almost choked when he said 'demon' but I knew that he didn't know what I was.

I masked my initial terror with a smile and a slight wave of my scent covered it up, even as I opened the door for him. "Sure Sethy. Where do ya live?" He named a street right next to mine. "Cool! Hey, do you mind if I drag you back to my house? I have a friend coming, and she said something about a surprise. I want to know ahead of time if I have to kill her, and I might need backup."

"Sure! What are friends for?" He laughed. I looked at him, straight-faced.

"Unfortunately, I was being at least halfway serious. I might need you to hold her down while I do something horrible to her." He seemed to be under the impression that I was insane, but he agreed.

"I like you, Seth!" He grinned.

"Holy cow, you live _here_?" I honestly thought that if his eyes bugged out any further, they would pop out and start walking on their own. I kept this to myself, however.

"Yeah. I'm living with _quite _a few people, and I have the feeling the 'surprise' breathes." I rolled my eyes. "Lord help me." He snickered.

"Nice." I rolled up to the gates, and for a minute all he could do was stare in silence. I stared too, because I had been too tired and busy to look last night. The front gates were wrought iron with some seriously _sharp _spires on the top, and there was a huge black rose carved into the middle of the slender iron bars that formed the gates. The rose was like the centerpiece, and it was actually two pieces that split in two when I opened the majestic gates with a little magic.

Since Seth thought I had used a remote of some kind, I let him believe it.

There were two watchtowers on either side of the gates, built into the sixteen-foot-high wall that encompassed the place. They were a nice, rich, oak-wood that stood out prettily against the wall's pale, beige color and each door had a little black rose painted on them.

The long, winding, cobblestone driveway stretched out before my car, and led straight up to the house, where it made a circle around a little arrangement of shrubbery and flowers. Then there was the mansion itself.

Fortified on all visible walls by majestic forests or fields (in the back, you could barely see it), the mansion rose sharply from the ground. It looked like something out of a fairytale. There were gables on the roofs, and I say roof_**s**_because the second story had a little roof-ish thing with balconies. The mansion was made of wood and stone, obsidian-coloured wood, and creamy-coloured stone. Fancy lattice-work adorned the walls, and there was actually a turret room. (I instantly knew that was going to be my spell-room.)

I whistled. "Wow. I hadn't looked at it 'til now." The stone steps leading up to the front doors were the same cream-colour as the rest of the stone, and the rails were wrought iron. I parked my insanely expensive car on the house-side of the shrub/flower thing.

I stepped out of my baby, and grabbed my pack out of the back with some reluctance. I sighed, and went to go open Seth's door. This time, though, he managed to open it before I could. I told him, "Just leave your stuff. No one's stupid enough to try anything, and anyways; there's no one here to try it." I smirked, and Seth smiled.

Black book-bag slung over one shoulder, blonde hair falling over one eye—stupid wind—I started up the steps. I counted the steps as I climbed, and when I reached the top I laughed. "What's funny?" Seth asked.

"There are thirteen steps! That's my favorite number." I explained, to his amusement.

When I opened one of the doors a smidge, I ushered him in and shut the door quietly behind him. He opened his mouth to say something, but I put a finger to my lips and he quieted. We snuck through the entryway as quietly as we could, but paused to examine it anyways. The entry hall looked like something you would find in the traditional mansion; high, curving ceiling, a little roll-top desk with a vase of—you guessed it—black roses, crimson-coloured carpet, and a spiraling staircase at the end of the hall.

You couldn't see the rest of the stairs because they spiraled straight up through the ceiling and through the second story all the way up to the third floor. I started running as soon as I hit the stairs, and my new friend followed my lead. We spiraled all the way up to the third floor, and I grinned at him.

"What was _that _all about?" I giggled.

"Oh, I don't know. I was just being silly." He seemed to think I was insane, but he was obviously amused as well. "Lemme drop this off in my room, and then I'll see if Rhiannon's home yet." I had told him about that—and her—all the way here, and he wanted to meet her as well.

I shoved open my door, and Seth and I walked inside. The walls were painted a soft, calming, blue-tinted-with-purple color, and there was a king-sized, circular, Tempurpedic bed in the back right corner of the room. The coverlet was a pretty chocolate-brown shade, and there were thirteen pillows all arranged where the bed hit the wall—there's no head on a circular bed—along with a cute black cat curled up on a big, soft, blue body-pillow.

"Nice, cat." I snorted, dropping my book-bag on the pale, beach-sand-coloured wood.

An ottoman with a beige cushion sat in the back _left _corner, and a floor-to-ceiling bookcase made of mahogany wood was placed along the wall next to the ottoman. The fluffy white rug on the floor in front of the bookcase was perfect for sitting on, and the matching pillows sat in the window-seat across the room. Seth looked astounded. "You say you got here _last night_?"

I grinned. "Yup. And you already heard about the other rooms I did." He said, "Yeah, but I didn't believe you!"

I rolled my eyes. "Why would I lie?" He didn't have an answer to that. I strolled over to my bed and sat down, pulling the cat into my lap as I did so. He 'rrrowl'ed at me, so I meowed back at him. (When I do stuff like that it sounds real because of my jaguar nature.) I started petting him, and he rubbed his soft head over my face and under my nose, but then I exhaled sharply out of my nose and lifted him off my lap and onto the floor.

I swiped at my face with my hands while Seth stared. "Sorry. He needs to be brushed. I _hate _it when cat hair goes up my nose, especially since he does it on purpose!" I kept wiping at my face while Seth smiled as if he was trying not to laugh.

The cat glared up at me like, _"Well, what're you doin' that fer?" _I glared at him, then turned to Seth. "This fuzzball's name is Midnight." I knelt down beside Midnight and stuck my face right up beside his. "Middow, go say hello to Seth." Seth was about to laugh when Midnight walked over to him and placed his paws on his thighs. The cat was up on two legs and stretching to get that high up, so Sethy crouched down slowly—so the cat wouldn't fall.

My cat looked my friend in the eyes, and _smiled_. Seth fell flat on his butt, and I started laughing. Midnight was looking at him as if to say, _"That was dumb. Why'd ya go and do that?"_ Of course, I could actually tell that he was actually thinking that because I can telepathically connect to all cats, Midnight especially because he's my familiar.

"Yeah, Sethy. Why'd ya go and do that?" I collapsed to the floor in a torrent of giggles. He glared at me briefly, but slowly smiled. After a minute, I stood up and brushed myself off. "I'd better go see where Rhi is." I smiled again.

I snickered. Seth walked beside me as I strolled to the door all the way down the hall, near the stairway. I knocked on the door, then opened it without waiting for a reply. I didn't see her when I walked in, so I turned around and made as if to walk out. Seth, behind me in the doorway, looked puzzled, but I just winked.

All of a sudden, I feel something attach itself to my back, and I almost fell over even though I had braced myself. "Rhi! Geroffa me!" I gasped. (The out-of-breath-thing was all a show. She's not heavy at all, and I'm super strong.) I felt her jump off, and I turned to face her.

She looked the same as she had in Mobile, not even bothering to wear layers. I rolled my eyes at her. "You're going to freeze to death, Rhi-Rhi." Rhi just snorted.

"Yeah, and pigs are gonna fly. Anyways, you aren't wearing layers either." Suddenly I hugged her, and she squeezed me—hard.

"Jeeze, Rhi. Trying to make me cough up my _spleen_?" We laughed. "Oops! Rhi, meet Seth Clearwater, Seth meet Rhiannon Barron." They both studied each other.

(WRLL *what Rhi looks like*)

She's short, especially for a werewolf—about 5'3, with hair that is such a dark brown that it looks to be black with a few lighter brown highlights from the summer where we bleached stripes of her hair blonde so we could then dye it green. It's cut in a spunky-flippy style to her shoulders, just brushing her olive-toned skin, warm, chocolate brown eyes grace her face, and exotic features sum up the outside of Rhiannon. The inside is even more exotic though. I'm lucky to have such an awesome friend!

Seth couldn't do anything but try to hide his staring. It was obvious by the way he looked at her that he had just Imprinted, and I almost laughed. Rhi's a wolf-shifter as well, and it looked as if she had imprinted on him too. "Well now! This could get interesting." I muttered.

A few hours later, Seth was still over at my house. He had called his mom and told her that he would be home late. She must have thought it was wolf-business because she said nothing, and I had to admit that it kind of was. Imprinting _is_ a wolf thing, so I suppose it counts.

As soon as Rhi and Seth stopped staring at each other, Rhi dragged me off and asked if she could be open about the whole wolf thing. I told her that she could tell him that she was a wolf and whatever else she wanted to say, but I asked her to leave me out of it. I still wanted my theatrical moment, and she understood that. She told me she would make it sound as if I didn't know, without going out and saying that.

"Thanks. You know how I get." I said. She just smiled and walked back over to her imprint. They just sat on her bed and talked while staring into each other's eyes sappily, and after a few minutes, I thought I might actually hurl.

"Uh, I'm gonna go check on…bye!" I started making an excuse, but then I just turned tail and ran.

I darted into my room and shut the door. Still feeling quite disgusted and majorly queasy, I opened my window, and—making sure no one saw me—jumped out. I landed on the grass, and darted around to the stables. Once there, I breathed in the clean smell of hay, and the warm scent of horse. "Hey A-V," I said. He poked his large, majestic head out of his stall and nudged me with it when I got close enough.

I scratched his ears for a moment, and then started stroking his neck. He made his little 'happy-sound'—a small whinny mixed with a snort. Smiling, I said, "At least _you _won't go all mushy on me." He nodded his great head, for I had spoken in the language of all, _Inedian_. When I speak it, everything nonhuman can understand me.

"Why are you out here?" A voice asked. I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Jesus, Tommy! You scared the crap out of me!" I spun around to see him standing in the isle way behind me.

"You still didn't answer my question." I humphed.

"Fine. Rhi imprinted on my new friend. It's _disgusting._" I screwed up my face and stuck out my tongue.

He snorted. "Yeah, I know. Casey imprinted on some random girl in ROTC. It was _horrible._" Tommy shuddered. "All the mushy staring, the random small-talk…it's just nasty." I nodded in agreement.

We stayed out in the stables for nearly an hour, talking in the hayloft. The topics ranged all the way from horses to videogames to magick. We could have talked for a while yet, but suddenly I heard a car pull up. Tommy heard it too. I leapt down the ladder, landing with a cat's grace on the hay, my friend right behind me.

I strolled out of the barn and ran towards the house, using shadows as my cover and growing midnight-black fur all over my skin to help me blend in better. When I reached the driveway, I forced the fur to melt back into human skin, and peered around the corner of the house. There was a silver Camry parked behind my car, and someone was getting out.

I watched as they walked up to the front door. She—I could smell that it was a girl—was about to knock, when I walked up behind her and said, "Hello." She turned around, face going white with fright.

"Oh, hello. I was just looking for my son; Seth. Paul told me that he had caught a ride with some girl named Katrina or something like that, and I was told this is where she lives." It fit. She looked a lot like Seth, enough for me to buy it.

"Well, I'm Katarina, and yes, Seth should be around here somewhere." She peered at me.

"Why would he be here and you not know where he was?" I opened my mouth to reply, but all of a sudden Little Tommy appeared behind me and said, "We were with the horses." Sue (that was her name, Seth had told me) nearly jumped out of her skin.

I grinned. "Mrs. Clearwater, this is Little Tommy. Little Tommy, this is Seth's mom." They shook hands, and I opened the front door. I led Sue inside, and into the living room on the first floor.

"Lemme go find him. I'll be back in a minute." I raced up the stairs and into the game room, because that was where I scented them. They were sitting on the couch, just talking, finally having lost the mushy-gushy looks.

"Hey, Seth! Your mom's here." He looked surprised.

"Really?"

"Uh, yeah. It's five o'clock, and we got out of school two hours ago." I snorted. "Y'all were to busy looking at each other like you had just discovered candy that you didn't notice that we'd been here for _hours_." Seth looked at me.

"Candy?"

I fixed a crazed expression on my face and said, "Don't insult my chocolate!" I giggled, and we ended up laughing all the way downstairs.

When we reached Seth's mom and Little Tommy, they said their farewells and left. "Seth, I thought this was…" I smirked.

Rhiannon turned to face me. "Hey, I noticed you were gone a few minutes ago. Where were you?" Little Tommy and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

"Rhiannon, honey, I jumped off the love-boat and started swimming for my life about two hours ago." Her eyes grew so large, I thought they were going to fall out.

"Oh, my gosh I'm sorry! I got so distracted…"

"Hey, it's not your fault! Anyways, I don't blame you; he's a great kid, and he's funny." I smiled slyly. "And besides, maybe now you'll feel guilty enough to tell me about my surprise."

She grinned, recovering her wits. "I might be able to do that…" I smiled evilly.

"You had better, or I'm going to tell Seth that you wrote him a bunch of mushy poetry after he left."

She gasped. "You _wouldn't_!"

I snickered. "I think we both know I would, and write the poetry to back it up."

"Fine, but that's more _your _style anyways." I shrugged as if to say, 'true, true.' "Kennan should be here in about an hour."

I almost fell. "REALLY!" She grinned.

"Yep! I told him we were moving, and he said he wanted to come." She wrinkled up her nose, thinking. "I think he also said something about rooming with us, but maybe not."

I grinned. "Oh, this is going to be _fun_! A house full of teens and twenty-year-olds!"


	5. Chapter 5

I spent the next hour fixing up the empty bedroom on the third floor, getting rid of all the girly curtains and bedspread—technically, though, I vaporized them with a slight explosion— magically summoning all of Kennan's things to the room and placing the furnishings where I thought they should be. I didn't touch the boxes marked clothes, but I _did _use magic to put the things away in the closet and dresser.

His toiletries went in the bathroom his room shared with Rhi's, and I grinned at the thought of his face when he realized that all his stuff had disappeared.

When he showed up, I opened the huge doors and tackled him in a hug. "I can't believe you're _here_!" I screeched as soon as I let go of him. He grinned, flipping light blonde hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah, I can't either. I was also surprised when I pulled up and noticed that _all_ _my_ _luggage_ _was_ _gone_…" He looked at me, and I smiled innocently.

"Who, me?" He just blinked, and I caved. "Yeah, me." Kennan grinned at me, and I couldn't help but grin back. It felt good to have the rest of the gang here.

(WKLL *What Kennan Looks Like*)

He's about 5'7, a little shorter than me but since it used to be where I had to look down to talk to him—I considered this an improvement, and I was sure he did too. His skin is almost as pale as mine, and his eyes are a laughing dark brown. Kennan's hair falls over his eyes sometimes because it's pretty wild and too long. It's a bright blonde that used to be slightly darker, but since he spends so much time outside in the summer, it turned his whole head into one big summer highlight, and it stayed that way. Maybe the melanin never came back…

"Guess what!" I asked. Ok, I'll admit it: I'm a total gossip when it comes to magikal stuff.

He looked at me warily out from under another flop of hair. "What…?" He asked, stretching it out into three syllables.

"Rhi imprinted!" His jaw dropped.

"Really?"

I nodded enthusiastically, sending my own hair flying. "Ya. And the sucky part is that he's in the local wolf-pack, and they are all becoming friends of mine, and the 'let me stare into your eyes for eternity' thing is just _ad nauseum_!" ('To the point of making on nauseous' in Latin.)

"I haven't seen it yet, but I trust you." He said with a laugh. "Just listening to you makes me dread the day I Imprint." We both groaned. "Or when _you _imprint, Kat."

I looked up, startled. "Who, me?" I asked again. "If I ever _do _Imprint I promise I'll try to not be too puke-worthy."

He shook my hand. "Same here."

We smiled, then said in unison, "Deal!"

The next day, I woke up, and screeched. Rhi was standing over my bed. "Holy shiz Rhiannon Sierra Barron! You almost killed me!" She giggled.

"That was the idea, Star.

I glared at her, but then laughed. "How could I live without you?" I asked, being sarcastic, and she slapped my arm.

"You couldn't." She pulled my card and started being overly theatrical by putting a stiffly proud look on her face, and resting a hand on her heart. "It would kill you if I left you alone for even one—" I sat up, threw a pillow at her, and she squeaked.

"Hey!" Rhi squealed as she tossed the pillow back at me, and I managed to catch it before it hit me in the face as it had done her.

"Whaddya want, Rhi? I wanna sleep…" I said drowsily. She just looked at me like 'omg you are so retarded.' "What?"

"Umm…were you planning on actually _attending _this school, or just sleeping all day long?" She asked, sounding exasperated.

"Uhh, number two, please." I mumbled and pulled the pillow back down over my head and flopped back on the bed.

"Oh, no you don't!" Rhi exclaimed, and yanked the covers off me and onto the floor. I glared at her, peeking out from under my pillow, but I got up and started ambling over to my closet. I shuffled like a zombie, eliciting a few giggles from Rhiannon. "See, that wasn't so hard!" She said perkily.

In response, I did the only thing I deemed worthy of that ridiculous statement: I immediately collapsed in a heap on the floor, ready to go back to sleep. She growled, and stalked over to me. I mentally prepared myself for the pain when I felt her rear back her foot. When it connected solidly with my ribs, the breath 'whoofed' out of me, and I glowered up at her.

"Fine," was all I said, but she left the room, and I got ready for the day.

When I finally made it down to the kitchen, I made some 'Mini Cornbread Puddings' which took me thirty minutes. I call the thingies 'Corn Muffins' because even though, like the recipe says, they are far moister than muffins, but it's less of a mouthful to say that. When I took them out of the oven, I tossed them onto a weird little rack-thingie to cool, and nibbled on one while I waited, nearly scalding my mouth.

I attracted Conner and Rhiannon to my work-space with the smells, and we ate in companionable silence for a few minutes. Eventually, though, we had to get to school. I groaned, and Rhi and Conner had to actually drag me out the door. This was pretty normal for us, so we were all used to it by now.

Today, Rhi drove a Porsche 911 Turbo—silver, Kennan used his snapping red Corvette, and I chose my magnificent Harley Davidson. It's sleek and black, with sliver flames on the sides that only show up in direct sunlight. Its not an ape-hanger, and it can fit two people.

I usually forgo a helmet, so it was natural for me to just slide my back-pack into one of the little saddle-bags that were suspended next to the back wheel. I put the bag in one of them, and a huge book I was reading in the other. The sad thing is, the weights were almost perfectly balanced.

I slung my leg over the seat, and kick-started the bike—keys are for sissies. With a grin at my companions, I roared down the driveway with them on my flanks. I used a bit of magic and made it to where we just passed through the closed gate, rather than wait for it to open. I could almost _feel_ Rhi rolling her eyes, but I could hear her laughter with my heightened hearing.

After riding for almost a minute, I spotted Seth walking on the side of the road again. I sighed and pulled to a stop next to him. "Seth, _dude_. You have _got _to get a license!" He grinned.

"Nice ride, rich girl." I stuck my tongue out at him, but I laughed.

"Thanks. Oh, and I was right about the surprise breathing. Kennan, another best friend of mine, arrived about an hour after you left. That's him in the Corvette, and your _twuu wuvv_ is in the Porsche." I smirked at him, making him laugh, and I rolled my eyes in return. "Go hop in the car with Rhi, Seth. I'm sure she doesn't mind."

My friends had pulled over once they had caught up with me, and Rhi seemed delighted when Seth opened the door and let himself in. _Oh, so that's why you took the Harley. You almost never use that thing, unless you're on a crowded street and are too impatient to wait, or you are just going out for a joy-ride. _Kennan thought at me.

I nodded in the general direction of his car, and then I was off like a shot.

When I reached the school's parking-lot, I saw the pack standing by a group of old, beat-up pick-ups and even an old Volkswagen Rabbit. I grinned when I saw that there were three parking spaces open right beside them. _Thank you, Fate. _ I thought sarcastically as I roared into the lot.

The pack looked up as one when they heard my bike, and continued to stare when I roared into a parking spot right next to where they were standing. I dismounted from my Harley, shaking my hair out of my face. "Jeze, Star! How many cars do you own, and do you know what a helmet is?" Quil asked, sounding as amazed as the rest of the pack looked.

"Umm…no, doesn't ring a bell. And do the cars that have been remodeled and bolted together into a cool little sitting area count?" I asked, but then plowed on without waiting for an answer. "If you count those, then six. We took three stretch-limos, took out the interiors and the corresponding sides, bolted and sanded them together, and turned the inside into an awesome gathering area with carpets, a TV, couches, a bookshelf, a Mac laptop, a mini-fridge and lighting."

"How in the hell did you do that?" Jake asked, jaw dropping.

"I have rich friends that are pretty free with their cash and I know a really wacky interior designer. It probably helped that I knew an awesome mechanic that was willing to clear out and essentially destroy those limos for me." I laughed, good and hard.

"It was fun picking out all the stuff to go in there. You'll all have to come over some time and see it." They readily agreed, much to my amusement. Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey Kennan." I laughed without even turning around.

"How do you _do _that?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head as I smiled.

"I am simply gifted with supreme awesomeness and—" I was cut off abruptly by being knocked sideways into the grass. I growled, and Rhiannon—the one who had tackled me—and I started rolling around in the grass, wrestling and fighting while insulting each other heartily. The fight ended when I pinned Rhi to the ground and wrapped my hands loosely around her throat.

"I win." I said, and hopped off her. She coughed a laugh and I stuck out a hand for her to grasp, and I pulled her up.

We looked into each other's eyes, and burst into giggles. When I looked up, everyone in the wolf pack was staring at us while Kennan just sighed and shook his head. "Do you do this often?" A shocked Leah asked.

Rhi and I just shrugged and said, "Yeah, pretty often," at the same time. I turned around and walked to class as my two friends walked to the office. Jake followed me, and so the day begun!

Than afternoon, in study hall, Jared tapped me on the shoulder. I snarled at him without looking up—startling the wolf—and shrugged his hand off of me. I just kept reading the huge book that was on my lap—The Great Book of Amber. It was about three inches thick, because there were actually ten books inside of it, and I was on book seven.

He tapped me again—not knowing he was risking the current location of his finger—and this time I looked up, a glower plastered on my face. "What?" I asked angrily, causing his eyebrows to raise.

"Whoa, calm down, rich girl. I was just going to ask if you'd like to go to our bon fire on Saturday." I perked up, and my eyes apologized for my rude behavior.

"Sure. Where at?" I asked curiously, my eyes lighting up. He laughed, a low, rumbling sound reverberating from deep in his chest.

"First Beach, but someone will come pick you up. We got the address from Seth." Well, that explained the 'rich girl'.

"Cool! Hey, how about you guys come back to my house after the fire, and we can hang out and chill at my place?" He agreed, and when the bell rang, he led me to where the pack usually stood in the parking lot—by the cars.

"Guys! Rich girl, here, can come to the bon fire, and she's offered to let us hang at her place afterwards. Whaddya say?" They loved the idea, especially when I told them about the woods inside the walls, and the pastures and my horses.

I giggled. "Plus, y'all can check out the limo-hang-out when y'all get over."

I couldn't wait until Saturday.

YYYYY

When Saturday came around, I woke up at nine, spent the rest of the day cleaning up the house and stables, neatening up the pasture, and at eight, I started on my makeup.

I wore some sable eyeliner, and black-cherry lip-gloss—it's a pink-red sheen thing that tastes like black cherry, and smells like it too. I never wear perfume. My hair, well, since I had taken a shower before fixing myself up, I dried it, and the waves in it were—for once—calm and orderly. The drier always accentuates the platinum streaks in my hair, and a small braid framed the right side of my face, while the rest of my hair fell free behind it.

The clothes I chose were my favorite pair of jeans that have a ripped knee, and a black t-shirt that says, **I'M NOT ****BOSSY**, **I JUST HAVE ****BETTER** **IDEAS**. My shoes were some awesome sandals of mine that the tops are made of straps across the foot and look kinda like ancient Greek sandals, and the straps are silver—my favorite color.

I checked in the mirror, and sighed in relief—I had achieved the look I had been going for. I looked casual, but subtly spiffed up, and I knew this look had boys drooling at my feet. It's a girl thing, feeling powerful like that.

After checking my makeup one last time, I settled down in my ottoman with am old favorite book of mine. It was a really popular book, and a really popular author. I giggled lightly to myself. "Good thing no one knows that's me."

When the doorbell rang, I put down my book—it's literally mine, cuz I wrote it—and stood. I checked myself in the mirror, slipped on my shoes, and walked out my door. Rhi poked her head out of her door, but she wasn't coming since she already knew the legends. I knew them too, but no one but the folks living in my house knew that.

I slid down the banister railing—eliciting an eye rolling from Conner as he looked out of his room—and hopped to my feet when I reached the entry hall. I patted my hair, then opened the door.

(Jake's POV)

When Katarina opened the door, my jaw wanted to hit the floor. She was beautiful, and although she was wearing casual clothes and a casual hairstyle, she looked somehow exotic.

I couldn't believe I had Imprinted on such a goddess.

(My POV)

I smiled when I saw Jake, and my stomach fluttered. I thought sternly to myself, 'stop that! He's already Imprinted on someone else!' That thought saddened me greatly.

"Hey, Jake!" I grinned at him, hiding my sorrow. He smiled slowly back at me, and my gut clenched. Whoever that girl was, she was lucky to have him.

"Hey, Katarina." Was it wrong for my heart to constrict when he said my name?

"We taking my car, yours, or walking?" I asked, attempting to ignore these strange feelings I was now working hard to hide from Jake.

"Walking. The beach is right down this way." My smile widened.

"Great! It'll be nice to be able to have ocean-side rides with A-V." Since he looked puzzled, I guessed Seth hadn't mentioned him. "My horse, Aeternum-vale."

His face cleared, and I smiled at him. We had already walked down the driveway and reached the gate, and I didn't even remember closing the door. I assured myself I had with a quick glance behind me, and we continued to walk to the fire.


	6. Chapter 6

There was something vaguely naughty and third-grade-ish about passing notes at the bon fire.

_So, Star, what do you think of the legends?_

Amazing. You can practically tastethe third wife's desperate love for her husband. Sometimes I wish I loved someone like that, with undying passion and devotion. It amazes me that I almost feel a kind of kinship with her. I have done something of the same origin, well, obviously not against a vampire and I didn't die, but it carries the same amount of love. Although this love of mine was for a great friend, not a lover.

Do you believe something like that could be real? What I mean is, do you believe in the legends?

'Credo quia absurdum,' Jake. Look it up.

I repeated the words on the page aloud, for Billy had finished speaking. I grinned. "_Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?" _He just gazed up at me like 'what?' so I said, "Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?"

I smiled down at Jake and patted him on the cheek. "Remember, Jake. Look it up." And I strode off onto the cliff, and jumped off without a sound. I heard Jake leap to his feet and run to the edge to see if I was alright.

I knew he would look down and see me do a few twists and flips in the air before I slipped beneath the surface of the water with a splash. When I surfaced, my hair was as black as the ocean around me, and the only reason he could see me was because of his werewolf eyes.

The rest of the wolf pack hung out at my mansion and in the grounds for the rest of the night, but Jake never showed up.

The next day was Sunday, so I slept in until noon, and would have slept even longer but I was awakened by an insistent tapping on my window.

I rolled off the bed and onto my feet, dressed in plaid blue-pink-and-cream P.J. pants, and a plain white T-shirt. My hair was caught back in a loose French braid, little wisps of tousled blonde hair dangling aimlessly around my face, and my feet were bare. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, then opened the window without looking.

"Tommy, I swear to God—" I cut myself off when I looked down saw Jake clinging to the windowsill as easily as a mountain lion clings to the side of a tree. "Jesus. Get in here before you fall." I said, getting out of his way.

He slipped in the open window, then proceeded to shut it. I was mildly concerned, and it showed on my face. "Umm, Jake? What are you doing scaling my house?" I had just noticed that his expression was slightly worried, but mostly ecstatic.

"What you said, last night, was it true?" It took me a moment—hello, still half asleep here—but I eventually remembered the Latin I had told him to research. "Oh, that. Umm, yeah. Why, Jake?"

He took a deep breath, his eyes still slightly stunned. "What would you say if I told you that the legends were true, there were vampires in Forks, and I was a werewolf?" I grinned up into his worried-but-happy face and thought _'Here's my theatrical moment!' _

I took his overly warm hand, startling him into looking up from studying the floor nervously.

"I'd say I already knew."

(Jake's POV)

She grasped my hand loosely in hers, causing me to look up from where I had been staring at the floor, anything to avoid those amazing eyes…

My jaw dropped when she purred, "I'd say I already knew."

(Back to me!)

"What!" he exploded.

"Uh, Jake? Rhiannon's a werewolf, Little Tommy—the one I thought you were a minute ago—turns into a mountain lion, Conner can shape-shift into a peregrine falcon, my dad's a mage, and I'm a shape-shifting mage."

He stared as if someone had slapped him between the eyes. "Uhh, Jake? Anyone home?" He snapped out of it.

"Wait a minute, what did you say you were?" He asked and I sighed gustily, plopping sleepily down on the bed.

"I'm called an 'Advocatus diaboli,' which is Latin for 'devil's advocate' because I'm something called a Jaguar-Daemon. When people are like me, we gain the first title because we're the bastard of an unknown shape-shifter and a mage. I can do magik, which is why I was able to basically renovate the whole house in one night." I paused, worried for Jake's mental health.

"Jake? You look like I just grew horns and fangs. I'm not an actual demon, or a vampire. I have friends who are supernatural such as the Retired Angels. They are all actually half-mermaid, I know the local werewolves—those are the wolves I mentioned—and I've even met a minotaur."

He looked me straight in the eyes, still looking as if I had shot him. "Um, if that was all you were here for, can you jump back out that window so I can go back to sleep?" A surprised laugh exploded from his chest as he sat down beside me, startling me as well.

"No, I'm not done yet. The only people members of the pack are allowed to tell about this are their Imprints, and others close to them."

I frowned slightly. "Oh, I must be part of that 'others close to them' half, cuz I saw your face the other day in art and you had _definitely_ Imprinted on someone sitting behind me." A small smile settled on his face, and I had to fight the blush trying to rise into my cheeks.

He stroked a hand down my face, causing my heartbeat to race and confusion to mask my face. A tender look came into his eyes, and I was about to ask if he was alright when he said, "No, Katarina. I Imprinted on you."

My eyes widened as I realized that I had done the same thing—that was all the weird stuff I had been feeling around Jake. Before I could say a word, he leaned in and laid his warm mouth on mine, killing every thought in my brain other than 'kiss Jake'.

When we came up for air, I said the only thing I remembered that I wanted to say: "I love you, Jake."


End file.
